According to Naamsa, November 2018’s new vehicle industry sales came in at 47 486 units, representing a decrease of 4,6 percent, year on year. Here’s what happened in the eleventh month of the year in the passenger vehicle segment…

As always, it’s interesting to take a look at what’s going on in terms of individual model sales. We’ve already examined the figures and picked out the 10 best-selling bakkies for the month, and now it’s time to do the same with the passenger vehicle market (of course, we’ve also compiled a list of the worst-selling passenger cars).

Unfortunately, BMW has “for the time being” again opted to report only aggregate sales data, mirroring the approach taken by German rival Mercedes-Benz not to provide individual model sales figures (Porsche, too, recently followed suit). Kia and Hyundai, though, thankfully now release their individual model sales, which makes the picture a little clearer.

So, what happened in November 2018? Well, the Volkswagen Polo swapped places with the Polo Vivo to grab back the passenger vehicle sales crown. Toyota’s combination of the Corolla, Auris and Corolla Quest (the brand reports an overall figure rather than individual model sales), meanwhile, held steady in third place.

The Ford Figo enjoyed a particularly strong month, rocketing from ninth to fourth, with the Ford Fiesta climbing two spots to fifth. The Fortuner fell one to sixth, while the Renault Kwid returned to the table to grab seventh.

The Toyota Yaris dropped four places to eighth, with the Toyota Etios falling one to ninth. The Hyundai Grand i10 clung to the final spot on the list, dropping four places.

Other bits and bobs

So, what else interesting happened in November? Well, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles just about made it past the 100-unit mark (as did Subaru), with the Fiat 500 (32) again proving its most popular model. The Ford EcoSport (421), meanwhile, only just outsold the Everest (405), with the Kuga managing 79 units.

The Jazz (142) was Honda’s top performer, with the BR-V (136) close behind, while Hyundai’s i20 (721) narrowly missed out on a top-ten spot. The Creta (259) and Tucson (213) also added useful figures to Hyundai’s total, while the new Kona mustered 95 units in its first full month on sale.

The Isuzu MU-X managed 39 units (trailing the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport by 15 units), while the Range Rover Sport (73) again led the way for Jaguar Land Rover. Despite falling out of the top ten, the Picanto (567) teamed up with the Sportage (427) to perform the heavy lifting for Kia, while the Rio added a useful 297 units to the Korean brand’s total.

The best-seller in the Nissan group was the facelifted Datsun Go (528), a nose ahead of the seemingly evergreen Almera (520). The prolonged lifecycle Micra (badged as the Active) contributed 348 units while the new Micra added 139, with the X-Trail hitting a clean 200 units. Peugeot’s struggles continued with a total of 57 units registered in November, 25 of which came from the 3008.

The Sandero (554) was Renault’s second-best performer behind the Kwid, while the Clio (310) and Duster (295) also came to the party for the French marque. While Suzuki’s top seller was again the Swift (306), the Jimny registered 174 units, with demand for the new model seemingly far outstripping supply. The Ignis (128) also made it to three figures.

In addition to the four spots it occupied in the top ten, Toyota also enjoyed useful contributions from the likes of the Avanza (503), Rush (350), RAV4 (337) and C-HR (200). The new Lexus ES (26), meanwhile, was easily the Toyota-backed luxury brand’s top performer for the month.

Audi’s A3 range (286) continued to lead the way for the Ingolstadt-based firm, while the Tiguan added 612 units and the Golf 297 units for Volkswagen. Lastly, the new XC60 (117) moved ahead of the XC40 (71) for Volvo.

See the top ten table below (and have a look back at October 2018’s figures here):

Ryan has spent most of his career in online media, writing about everything from sport to politics and other forms of crime. But his true passion – reignited by a 1971 Austin Mini Mk3 still tucked lifeless in a dark corner of his garage – is of the automotive variety.